The Gift of Giving by Reusing, Recycling and Reducing for the needs of others.

Sometimes the idea of how to teach your kids the spirit of giving lends your thoughts from a conversation your child has with you or others.  I ask you to please read this story all the way to the end. :-)

My son is ten and since he started school in the fifth grade he went to the schools library to check out a book.  In a conversation about what books he likes to read he had this to say, "Mom, I don't like to read.  In fact, there is no books that I like that the library has that I would even take out."  I looked at him and said, what?  With a questionable voice and somewhat disappointment... Okay a lot of disappointment!   He said, " Mom I really don't like to read and even if I did the library has no good books.  The books are so old that they're missing pages or the cover is torn."  I said, "There has to be some book that you might like to at least try and read.  It's part of your education."  He said, "Yeah, I do and the name of the books that I like to read happens to be my only favorite book.  Which is Captain Underpants."  (Laughing) What, they let you read books about a Captain in underpants? He just shook his head and I kissed him goodnight.

I went to the library at our school  a few days later and befriended the librarian who's been there for a year.  The school is celebrating it's 25Th anniversary and so are all the school books, well at least it appears.  Do you know this library has the original books of little house on the prairie still being taken out, torn and worn on the cover.  The copy dates on most of these books are from the 1950's & 40's.  Oh, the reference books 1980's, so that's means 28 years ago!  The 1970's, 80's and 90's are also available in a rare form.  I asked the librarian to pull up this Captain in Underpants, which I was corrected as Captain Underpants.  Anyway, she has a book of Captain Underpants, actually a few, maybe about ten for 800 students.  She also stated the books are always out being read.  The funding for the library is very very tiny.

So, the gift of giving doesn't have to be traditional.  It has to be about an interest a child may have.  My son goes to Garage Sales and purchases books for the library.  We buy Captain underpants and he reads them and donates them as well as other books that the kids talk about wanting to read.  He's donated almost three hundred books since the  school year started in August '08.  The gift of giving is not a holiday event but an everyday event.  He does spend his money half the time.  But, he can get four books for a dollar or sometimes he gets them for ten cents each!  He gets books for girls and boys with the years being in the 2000 or sometimes we get lucky and get a 2008!  That's like winning the lottery to him!  Whenever possible he always makes an effort, because this is his need to give and I've learned to enjoy this as well.  The librarian puts the child's name in the book saying donated by... the kids know it's him and he thinks that's pretty darn cool.  Oh, not because he donated the book, but because he donated a book that someone took out of the library to read and found interesting.

So, as you tuck your children into bed and you share a moment of how their day went, drum up a conversation about if they were to do something different about where they live, the school they attend, the soldiers in war or the ones who are home or baking their favorite cookie and having too many.  Who would they donate them too?

We teach our children as they teach us to remember that the gift of giving is not a holiday, but an ongoing need to help.  Not because we have too.   But because some days we can and we just well....want too.  Don't make it a necessity for giving.  But, let your child and yourself know that it is an honor to be so generous even if the item is only .10 or even free.

God Bless You all and to all a Good Night.